Toyota Repair: Toyota Tercel - 1984, toyota tercel, cv joint

Question
Ted,

I don't have a manual for this beast (a 1984 Toyota Tercel Station Wagon with an automatic 4WD), however, using the resources of the parts houses has helped somewhat.

Now, I'm faced with a minor (sure...) problem; the car vibrates at 45 MPH horribly.

I have also noticed a sort of stutter from the car at tighter turn radiuses.

Since I got the car, I have rebuilt the carb, replaced a wornout left CV joint, installed a new radiator, altenator, battery, and starter. The engine seems to run fairly good without smoke and or internal noises.

Recently, I parked the car because I heard a thin metalic squeal.

I suspect the rear-end's bearings, but have not seen any lube on the ground, as I have with other vehicles' like failures.

I want to get the car back on the road, but am worried that the "down time" will have our local code enforcement going nuts, so I need to make any repairs as quickly as possible.

Further, I'd like to get a bit more power/accelleration from the 4 banger, but is the small carb replacable with something else? And do you have any other suggestions concerning this idea, short of a blower.

Any ideas, guidance, instruction, and suggestions would be welcomed.

Thank you in advance for any help.

~Mac

PS... Would you believe there are about 6 of this base breed in Ocala, FL? What years did they make this style (for parts inter-changablity)?

Answer
The vibration may be caused by a badly worn inner CV joint so check for that possibility providing that the wheels are in balance and none are bent and the tires are in good shape. I believe that 1982-84 tercels were pretty much the same and most parts are interchangeable, don't have to much information on these anymore.